Escape
by StarryAlpha
Summary: Lucy is trapped. Natsu saves her. With some extra angst in between. Rated T for suggestive themes, no, not the sexual kind,, I don't own the cover image! Also, I don't own Fairy Tail.


_Bang._

There was that noise again, the one that filled every minute of every day, it seemed. _Bang._ She didn't try blocking the noise out; she already knew nothing would work enough. All she could do was sit still, overhearing the screams of humans, children and adults alike, as they were taken out after being experimented on. All she could do was wait for her turn, when...

 _Crash!_

She wondered what that noise was… it was different than the usual _bang._ Wait. Was that… yelling? What was that emotion called again? Oh yeah, it was called anger, or something of the sort. She listened with a sort of unattached interest as the yelling came closer, approaching her, though she was completely blind all around. There were no other screams, though, just that one persistent yelling. Were all of the others dead? Was she the only one left?

 _"Lucy, where are you?_ _ **Lucy!"**_

Why was that voice familiar? She raked her memory, trying to find a trace of that voice somewhere.. Was it her.. what was that word? Husband? That was probably it. But what was his name? Nats… Natsu. Yeah. It suddenly dawned on her. Natsu had come to save her. That must have been it… right? She couldn't be hallucinating… Those had ended a few months back.

There was a sudden bright light shining on her, and she tried to cover her eyes, but the light was soon covered partly by a figure standing at the entrance. The yelling had cut off sharply; it didn't surprise her. She didn't remember the last time she was able to take care of herself in any way, so she probably looked like an absolute mess.

"Lucy… Oh my Mavis, _Lucy…_ "

She was suddenly covered by what felt like… arms? But the arms were shaking, and there was a sort of broken sobbing noise… Was this person crying? But why? Without thinking, one word left her dried lips… ".. N-Na.. tsu..?"

The arms froze, but soon tightened ever so slightly on her, "Y-You remember my n-name.. Thank g-goodness… I'm so sorry for taking so long, Lucy.. So sorry…" The man that she had confirmed to be her Natsu buried his face in her hair. "… Please forgive me.. I'm so sorry…"

 _"Is it okay..?"_

She instantly froze. That's right… when she was first taken, she was expecting his child, after all. The memories came back to her like a train wreck. Memories from her first days in this dark place suddenly flooded back into her mind's eye, and she flinched. Natsu, in return, was buffeted as if hit by a speeding bullet. She slowly shook her head, "I-I.. I-"

Natsu's eyes tightened around her all the more, "Shh, shh.. you don't have to say anything, it's okay..." She didn't have the energy to say anything more, so she slowly lifted a chained arm to touch his shoulder. He stilled himself, as if silently telling her that she had absolute power over him; it helped her growing fear at his sudden appearance and the other noises around them. She slowly ran her hand down his arm, dull but not blind brown eyes scanning what parts of him they could see.

When she had finished, lowering her hand, he slowly rose up, "Stay still for a second, Lucy.. I'm going to free you.." He slowly took her hands in his, taking as many measures as possible to melt the chains off of her wrists without burning her. Once he was finished, he slowly bent down and scooped her into his arms, bridal style. "Let's get out of here."

He slowly carried her out of the dark cell. Eyes almost burning from the sudden bright light, she buried her face into Natsu's scarf; he didn't seem to mind, and continued forward. There were a couple voices, _Erza and Gray,_ she remembered, sounding a small distance away from them, and Natsu responded to them, but Lucy didn't really pay attention to what they were saying.

 _"Where do you think you're going? And with my most prized possession, at that?"_

Natsu froze, and Lucy stiffened. _Not him… please, not him… Not the master…_ But the master it was. "Who's asking?" Natsu's voice rang out. There was an ensuing conversation between Natsu and the master but Lucy was too terrified to pay attention, until she heard one statement ring out:

 _"Then I'll just kill you myself."_

Was she hearing that right? Was her sweet Natsu who always refused to kill her enemies really saying he was willing to kill someone for her? Lucy's eyes widened as Natsu gently set her down and started walking in the direction of the master. "N-Nat-su, wait-"

Natsu turned to face her, with a tender but serious look on his features, "Lucy, I just can't let him live.. not after what he did to you.. and to our child. And don't forget all of those other people he hurt , men, women, _children_ … I just can't. But, I will let you choose whether to stay for a tiny bit longer and watch or to go right now, with Gray and Erza.."

Lucy slowly grinned, and Natsu returned the look. "Of course… alright, then." And he flew forward with a battle cry.

* * *

A couple months later, the reunited couple was sitting on a quiet hillock in a clearing in the middle of the woods. Natsu stared at Lucy, who was by this time glowing with health. Though she was still going to therapy for her PTSD after the whole event, things were good, great, even.

 _"This time, I'll make sure to protect you, no matter what."_


End file.
